Athletes Beyond Bartow: Anderson, Schiltz join pro ranks as MiLB schedules hit second half
Elliott Anderson and Luke Schiltz joined the professional baseball ranks recently as three other baseball players with Cartersville connections continued their seasons at various MiLB levels.
PRO BASEBALL
ELLIOTT ANDERSON — Kansas City Royals’ organization (recently drafted, not yet assigned; 6-3, LHP; Auburn University; Cartersville HS)… Anderson has opted to forego his senior season at Auburn to sign with the Royals’ organization. He was selected in the 23rd round and was the 679th overall selection in the June draft. This season at Auburn he made 27 relief appearances and three starts to lead the Tigers in total appearances. Auburn finished the season 38-28 and reached the College World Series for the fifth time in school history. It was the Tigers first trip to Omaha in 22 years. The Tigers were ousted in two straight games at the CWS, falling to Mississippi State and Louisville. In 2019, Anderson had a 7-2 record with a 4.15 ERA in 65 innings pitched. Opponents hit .254 against the lefty. He struck out 67 and walked 30. Anderson made 68 total appearances for Auburn in three seasons and leaves with a 13-2 record in just over 107 innings. He fanned 108 in his collegiate career. Most new signees with the Royals report to the Arizona Rookie League. The Kansas City affiliate is located in Surprise, Arizona. The AZL Royals are currently managed by former Atlanta Braves’ shortstop Tony Peña, Jr.
SAM HOWARD — Albuquerque Isotopes (6th yr. pro; 6-3, LHP, Triple-A Pacific Coast League; Georgia Southern; Cartersville HS)… made relief appearances at home last Monday against New Orleans and on the road Friday at Reno. He worked a spotless seventh inning against New Orleans with two strikeouts of the three batters faced. The Isotopes were trailing 2-1 at the time and eventually lost 5-3. Friday, Howard entered in the eighth inning with his team trailing 4-1. He gave up an earned run on two hits and a walk with Reno winning 5-1. Howard fanned two to run his season strikeout total to 45 in just over 35 innings. He has a 4.58 ERA and a 1-0 record in 27 relief appearances. Albuquerque (32-44) is fourth in the PCL’s Pacific Southern Division trailing El Paso by 15.5 games.
CONNOR JUSTUS — Mobile BayBears (4th yr. pro; 6-0, Inf., Double-A Southern League; Georgia Tech; Cartersville HS)… Following the Southern League all-star break, Justus has hit safely in all three games at home against Jacksonville and has gone 4-for-10 including a double, a walk, and two RBI in the series that concludes Monday night. Justus has a .200 batting average with one home run and 14 RBI in 185 at-bats across 63 games. Defensively, Justus has seen action at shortstop, third base, and second base with a .947 fielding percentage in 226 total chances. He has been part of 25 double plays. Mobile is 2-2 in the Southern League’s South Division second half after finishing the first half with a 27-41 mark.
ANTHONY SEIGLER — Charleston RiverDogs (2nd yr. pro; 6-0, C, Class A South Atlantic League; Cartersville HS)… in the RiverDogs first four games of the SAL second half schedule, Seigler is only 1-for-13 with three walks. the switch-hitting catcher has seen his batting average slip to .250 (8-for-32) after peaking at .368 through his first six games with Charleston. He has two doubles and one RBI through ten games after starting the year in extended spring training. Defensively, Seigler has thrown out 3-of-10 runners on attempted steals and does not have an error or passed ball. The RiverDogs have started the second half schedule 1-3 after narrowly missing the first half title that included a guaranteed post-season berth. Charleston has a three-game series at Rome Monday through Wednesday.
LUKE SCHILTZ — Texas Rangers’ organization (recently drafted, not yet assigned; 6-5, RHP, (Cartersville, GA; Stoneman Douglas (Fla.) HS, )… was selected in the 24th round of the June draft by the Texas Rangers. The Cartersville native who attended Cartersville High School played his senior season at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where he resided with an older sister. T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com wrote a story on the Rangers’ new draft pick that can be viewed at this LINK.
